an example of the use of hyperbaric medicine for athletes:

LeBron James does hyperbaric oxygen therapy to keep his body in optimal conditions, in order to recover during the NBA playoffs in 2017

This article is intended to provide you with new knowledge, there is no medical advice, the opinion of your doctor is always to be preferred for everything that is diagnosis, treatment, prevention of disease, a new diet, a sports activity fitness as well as any prescription of drugs.

by Dr. Mariangel Leota

In the face of chronic diseases, there are more and more alternatives for their treatment, currently one of the chronic diseases that more lives are paid annually is cancer, there are thousands of studies conducted about this disease and what could be its pathophysiology, this is incredible because in order to devise effective treatments it is necessary to know everything about the tumor.

Currently, in general, cancer or neoplasia is defined as the set of diseases that have uncontrolled, non-purposeful and persistent cell growth as common ground. Our body is in constant change and cell development where old cells are replaced by new cells, able to perform their functions and maintain the homeostasis of the body, well at some point of that cell change occurs a command error and begins a development and uncontrolled growth of cells that are not going to have the essential characteristics for their functioning and therefore will be useless, this set of defective cells are those that will shape the tumor. This abnormal growth may be conditioned by various factors but the most frequent are ionizing radiation, genetic abnormalities, smoking, and factors related to lifestyle.

The diversity of cells that make up our organism give rise to a wide variety of tumors that could originate from them, it is clear that each cell will have specific characteristics that will give particularities to the tumor but there are cellular characteristics in common, such as:

Obtaining energy from the use of glucose

High oxygen consumption (highly aggressive, fast-growing tumors)

Recent studies conducted by researchers at the Northeastern University of Boston report that the use of oxygen as a complementary therapy in patients diagnosed with neoplasms can be very effective.

This study, like many others, suggests that a treatment based on changes in oxygen pressure can be effective as complementary antineoplastic therapy.

Now, we are talking about oxygen, pressures and many other concepts that might make you wonder at this moment what all this has to do with cancer, since in the following

lines I’ll tell you everything, let’s continue.

First of all you should know that there is Hyperbaric Medicine, yes, there is something like that and not only that but it is a branch of medicine that is responsible for studying the changes that occur in the body when subjected to changes in atmospheric pressure such as for example, sports divers, workers and patients receiving treatments in hyperbaric chambers.

Well, thanks to studies of hyperbaric medicine, hyperbaric chambers emerge. What are they? They are cameras where the Barometric pressure is greater than the pressure from the outside. On the other hand, hyperbaric oxygenation takes place inside the hyperbaric chambers and is a medical treatment that is based on obtaining partial pressures of wkevadas oxygen, it is to breathe pure oxygen, at a pressure higher than that of the atmosphere. It is a pharmacological therapy, whose range of application is determined by the maximum pressure reached, the duration of inhalation, the frequency and total number of exposures.

This oxygen is administered through a mask and the sessions last approximately 60-90 minutes, but this time may vary depending on the disease being treated.

How do you act?

The oxygen breathed inside the chamber enters the organism through the lungs, there it is transformed into free oxygen, that is to say Oxygen NO bound to hemoglobin and dissolved in the plasma, flows through the circulation, thus increasing the availability of oxygen in the body. all the tissues of the organism.

Oxygen is vital for all the functions of the body, and in pathological processes the demand of this increases either because the metabolic needs are increased or because the disease conditions that state by itself.

What is the difference between therapy in hyperbaric chambers and administration of oxygen therapy without hyperbaric chamber ?.

Because the oxygen administered in the hyperbaric chambers is at higher pressures than conventional oxygen therapy, there lies the great difference, to be administered at higher pressure conditions a greater use of it, now the similarity in both is that the amount and time of administered oxygen are regulated according to the needs of the patient.

What are the benefits of therapy in hyperbaric chambers?

It favors the healing processes of soft tissues and bones, by stimulating vascular formation.

It helps in decompressive pathologies since it decreases the volume of air bubbles.

It diminishes the edema independently of its origin since the application of this therapy produces an arterial vasoconstriction, this effect does not happen in the venous vessels.

In fractures it favors the formation of bone callus since oxygenation stimulates the formation and growth of osteoblasts and osteoclasts in bone tissue.

Optimizes cellular metabolism

Decreases insulin requirements, since it increases the use of peripheral glucose in diabetic patients

Useful in the management of patients intoxicated by carbon monoxide.

Well, hyperbaric oxygen therapy can do everything I mentioned above, but in cancer patients other benefits are added such as:

Antibacterial effect against infectious agents sensitive or not to oxygen, this is incredible for cancer patients since both cancer and radiotherapy and chemotherapy usually make them more susceptible to infectious processes.

It increases the immune system since it increases the action of phagocytes in the destruction of germs. In the case of fungal infections it has an antifungal effect

In certain cases it potentiates the action of some antibiotics.

The use of hyperbaric oxygen chambers are approved by the FDA in fact has a society (Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society) that regulates its use protocols. It is important to recognize that for what the FDA approves a device or medical practice

must have carried out an exhaustive scientific investigation that allows him to verify the veracity of said procedure or device.

These are indications as first-line treatment, in the case of cancer it can be indicated as complementary treatment, for example recent studies have found improvements in patients with lung cancer treated with hyperbaric oxygen.

Other studies conducted in countries such as Spain have shown an improvement in patients diagnosed with tumors with resistance to radiotherapy and difficult to treat, once applied hyperbaric therapy, the tumors showed an improvement in the sensitivity of the tumor to traditional treatment.

On the other hand, hyperbaric oxygen could not only improve the tumor’s response to traditional antineoplastic treatment, but it can also be of great help in the side effects and injuries it causes.

Hyperbaric medicine is not only indicated in the diseases mentioned above, it has other applications, currently this therapy has also found a place in the field of Sports Medicine, physiotherapists and sports doctors have noticed that this therapy reduces the healing times in trauma since it accelerates the healing processes of the ligaments and the consolidation of the fractures in less time.

Medicine is constantly advancing in the face of diseases that represent the greatest challenges for science in order to find increasingly effective and less aggressive treatments, being properly informed about the advances and new treatment options offered by medicine is very important.

Currently cancer is still considered by many patients as a death sentence, but it is not, even when the treatments of choice continue to be: Chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgeries, there are alternative treatments that enhance the effects of traditional treatments and many other cases work to cope with multiple side effects.

Knowing the existing alternatives for cancer patients is a relief for all those who are in that situation, both patients and their families.

With this article I do not pretend to idealize oxygen therapy in hyperbaric chambers or promote it as a cure for cancer or any other disease mentioned above, no, nothing further from reality, with these lines I want to empower you, that you know and understand that there are several options, options that for many patients represent opportunities, opportunities to reduce pain, suffering and perhaps in some cases some improvement in their condition.

It is important to emphasize that this type of treatment can not be indicated for any type of cancer, no, you must remember that it fulfills specific functions in certain systems of the organism therefore it does not have the same effectiveness in all tumors, in the case of tumors of lung or tumors that undergo necrosis and hypoxia processes has shown good results.

As all medical therapy carries risks, such as dizziness, inflammation of the middle ear due to changes in pressure between the camera and the outside but these effects are usually short and do not cause greater discomfort to patients.

The way to find the exact and effective cure for cancer is still far away, but it is closer than in previous years, the emergence of alternative therapies applicable to this disease and many other chronic pathologies guide researchers to focus on other aspects of this pathology, thus emerging more and more details about this complex disease.

Before starting any kind of treatment, consult with your treating doctor so that he can evaluate your options and needs.